Charcuterie 101

Charcuterie is the art of prepping cured or smoked meats. Charcuterie boards are essentially meat’s response to a cheese board, and boy are they good. Charcuterie boards are great to serve at special occasions and even social events. It’s great for both because people love them. It allows for groups of people to gather around the table to actually talk (something we don’t do as often anymore) while they sip on wine or a cocktail. Not an expert at charcuterie? Here’s a quick guide that you can for your next get together or even for a lowkey night in.

Cured sausages. The crowd favorite is always pepperoni but there are other delicious options too. Try some spicy sopressata, salame or chorizo.

Cured meats. Include cured or smoked meats like prosciutto, cappicola and smoked ham (like serrano ham or jamon Iberico). It’s important to have rich and spicy meats on your board. 

Something bready. Crostini, toasted baguette slices, thin breadsticks, or crackers will add a little texture and crunch. For added flavor go with a flavored cracker (ie. sesame, herb, or cracked pepper). 

Sweetness. For balance, you’ll need of bit of sweet to pair well with the saltiness and fattiness of the meats. Salty and fatty meats pair well with dried fruit, jam, or honey. Fig jam and honey are great! 

Cheesy. The star of the show (in our opinion)! You can go regional here by adding cheeses that pair well with your meat options (ie. Parmigiano with prosciutto). Overall, you want a variety of textures and flavors, make sure you have a mixture of soft, hard, and strong cheeses.

A little crunch. To add more crunch, use a variety of nuts. Mix it up with pistachios, pecans, almonds, and more. Here you can go with a nut and apricot mix or a nut and chocolate mix- the mixture of sweet and savor go perfectly together.